From: Sirach 27:30 - 28:7
Forgiving others
28[1] He that takes vengeance will suffer vengeance from the Lord,
and he will firmly establish his sins.
[2] Forgive your neighbor the wrong he has done,
and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray.
[3] Does a man harbor anger against another,
and yet seek for healing from the Lord?
[4] Does he have no mercy toward a man like himself,
and yet pray for his own sins?
[5] If he himself, being flesh, maintains wrath,
who will make expiation for his sins?
[6] Remember the end of your life, and cease from enmity,
remember destruction and death, and be true to the commandments.
[7] Remember the commandments, and do not be angry with your neighbor;
remember the covenant of the Most High, and overlook ignorance.
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Commentary:
28:1-11. This passage contains three groups of sayings on one theme: seek
peace and reconciliation, not discord. The first group (vv. 1-5) has to do with for-
giveness: one needs to forgive others in order to be forgiven oneself. The second
group (vv. 6-7) gives the various reasons for not bearing grudges against one’s
neighbour: we should “remember” who we are and how good God has been to us.
The third (vv. 8-11) wants against getting into arguments because they only make
matters worse.
Our Lord may well have had these or similar sayings in mind when he taught in
the Our Father, “Forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors” (Mt 6:12;
cf. also Mt 6:14). “Christian prayer extends to the ‘forgiveness of enemies’ (cf. Mt
5:43-44), transfiguring the disciple by configuring him to his Master. Forgiveness
is a high-point of Christian prayer; only hearts attuned to God’s compassion can
receive the gift of prayer. Forgiveness also bears witness that, in our world, love
is stronger than sin. The martyrs of yesterday and today bear this witness to Je-
sus. Forgiveness is the fundamental condition of the reconciliation of the children
of God with their Father and of men with one another” (”Catechism of the Catho-
lic Church”, 2844). And St John Chrysostom, quoting 28:2-4, writes: “Although
you may not deliberately do harm to your enemies, if you fail to show goodwill to
them and leave the wound open on their souls, you are disobeying the command-
ment laid down by Christ. How can you ask God to treat you with good grace, if
you yourself do not show mercy to those who have sinned against you?” (:De
compunctione:, 1, 5).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.